Whether summer is your busiest time of the year or you’re looking to cover for vacationing employees, recruiting seasonal workers can be tricky for small businesses. Here are 3 tips on how to find and add the best employees to your staff this summer.

Target Your Search

Start getting the word out about your job opening as soon as possible, particularly at locations where the largest demographic of seasonal workers might be found.

For example, since students typically represent a large pool of potential candidates for summer jobs, target your search at area high schools, community colleges and universities. Also, posting your job at schools could spark attention from teachers seeking a summer gig.

Small business owners could also take a more direct approach — reach out to high school advisors and college career centers about your interest in finding a student for the summer job. Share a description of the job, including any details that would help direct the job listing to the right students, such as the type of business or whether the job requires prior work experience.

Also, if feasible, consider setting up the summer job as an internship for a high school or college student. That could generate interest and more applicants.

In addition to contacting academic advisor offices, see if there are any local organizations that match teenagers and young adults to available summer positions for work experience. Working with these types of groups could get your job opening in front of motivated student applicants. 

Talk Up Your Business and Work Culture for Seasonal Jobs

Just like you’d do in non-seasonal recruiting, be sure to let potential candidates know all the good things that come with a summer job at your small business.

That might mean talking up your team culture and positive work environment, or any other applicable perks, such as employee discounts, flexible scheduling, growth opportunities or a chance to gain new skills.

“At a small company, you’re not just another cog in the machine,” says a post by Career Services at the Kogod School of Business at American University.

“Small teams require employees to wear multiple hats, which means you’ll likely gain hands-on experience in multiple aspects of the business — even outside your job description.”

Expand Your Approach

This could simply mean expanding your thinking about who would, and would not, be a good match for the summer job. For example, an applicant with soft skills but no work experience.

Or, expand your search for candidates by getting input from your current employees. They have their own networks and connections they could contact. Plus, their first-hand experience gives them credibility, which could help lead to viable candidates.

Also, what about last year’s seasonal crew? If you haven’t already, try circling back to your past summer employees to see if they’d be interested in the current job, suggests a post by staffing agency People Ready.

“They know what it takes to get the job done and can provide the support you need without the usual hiring hassles of onboarding,” the article says.

For more tips, check out Essential Green Flags for Successful Hiring.